RocJocks: Wendy Wyland dove to bronze in '84

It was clear from an early age that Wendy Wyland had remarkable talent. Legendary Penfield coach Betty Perkins-Carpenter remarked, "she was doing dives that senior divers weren't doing yet when she was just 12."

Wyland won her first national diving championship at age 16 and claimed the world championship a year later. She excelled at both the 3-meter springboard and the higher, more challenging 10-meter platform. She won medals in both events at the Pan American Games in 1983. By then, Wyland had moved to Mission Viejo, California, to work with other Olympic hopefuls.

She won a bronze medal in the 10-meter event at the 1984 Olympics and drew worldwide attention. Wyland was included in People magazine's "50 most beautiful people," which declared "if cuteness has a name, it must be Wendy Wyland."

She retired from competitive diving and returned to Rochester in the early 1990s, where she married David VanDerWoude. She ran the Webster Aquatic Center and was the swimming and diving coach at RIT.

Wyland died suddenly in 2003 at the age of 38.

Each week, we recognize a great sports figure from the Rochester area. See the complete list and read more about each figure and their accomplishments online, at RocDocs.com/RocJocks.

Many readers wrote in to nominate Wyland, including Jeffrey Marcus and Kathy Purcell.

Whose name should we add next? Send an email to slahman@gannett.com with your suggestions, or share your ideas on our Facebook page.